From Fences To Spurs
by MsKtK
Summary: She rides english and he rides western. She jumps fences and he's a cowboy. Her horse is white and his is black. They don't see eye to eye on much, except for they both practically live at the barn and are forced to constantly deal with one another, as their horse's are neighbors. Can these two form a bond like their two horses seemed to have? Gajevy Equine AU!
**Here is a new story I started on impulse. It's Gajevy meets Equine, why? Because Equine is something I know and I thought it might be nice to write something not so dramatic and angsty for once. Something a bit more light. I've got a lot ideas for this, but I also won't be making it a priority over Monster. It is kind of just gonna be one of those things I can come back to and update whenever. Plus it is a fun excuse to write about my own horse Hank.**

 **Anyways give it a read if you're feeling up for it and let me know what ya think so far and if I should bother continuing with it. There will be a bit more notes of explanation at the bottom.**

 **I apologize for any errors I may have missed.**

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 **From Fences To Spurs**

 **Chapter 1:** **High off My Sweet Valentine**

"Did you know that the new horse is coming in today?!"

"Say what? Hang on Lucy! I can't hear you from all the way down there!" Levy was calling in response to whatever it was Lucy had announced. She wasn't hard of hearing; she was just a good distance away, on the complete opposite end of their barn's large outdoor arena. "Wait till I get over there!" She was shouting. "Come on Hank…" She then muttered to the large horse she was sitting on top of.

She turned her head in the direction of her blond friend. Lucy was also sitting on top of her own horse, her body rocking with the slight movements of his slow jog.

"Let's go…" Levy urged Hank. She could feel his movement already beginning to shift with the weight of her own body as she gave him a little kick with the heel of her boot. Then with a click of her tongue Hank was moving them into a quick and steady trot. His strides were lengthy yet smooth, which made it easy for Levy to post in rhythm with his movements in her English saddle, right upon the first bounce.

Hank was a tall horse, which only served to make Levy look all the more small when she rode him, with her far below average height. His body was long and so was his neck. He was built like a thoroughbred in these spots, but his chest and head were thick and large like that of a quarter horses. He was after all an appendix, which meant he was combination of the two popular breeds and it made him all the more stunning with his light gray-blue, and whitening fur. He was considered to be a gray, and his hair became whiter and whiter with each passing year.

His mane was mixture of gray fading to white just like the rest of his hair, Levy kept it cut short. She had to, because of how poorly it looked grown out; it was far too thin to lay flat and instead would have an awkward wave to it when long. Unfortunately there wasn't anything she could do to save the pitiful mass of hair that was his forelock. It rested over his head, between his ears in three distinct strands that all stretched down in different directions, do to having three cowlicks in it. His tail was far better looking, full and long, with a similar color scheme as his mane.

Overall Hank was good looking horse, from his sturdy and impressive built to his unique and graceful coloring. He was elegant in movement as well, his strides long and sweeping, completely appropriate for a hunter, which made sense as that was the discipline Levy mostly practiced with him. He was her horse, her one and only and she had, had for many years now. She had received him as a gift when she was only seventeen; at the time he had only been a four-year-old gelding. He had been quite the handful back then.

Six long years had gone by and Levy had learned so much, not only about riding, but also about what it meant to be a horse owner. He had taught her true responsibility in a way college never could and she had grown so much as a person, because of it.

Hank and Levy were coming up upon Lucy fast, as her horse Andy continued at his slow jog. Andy was a pretty big horse in his own right. Although he didn't have the height that Hank had, his body was much thicker and he had a powerful backend to boot. He was sorrel in color with a white stripe and snip over his nose and face. And unlike Hank his mane was much nicer and grown out to a more average length. He was adorned in a large Western saddle as Lucy mostly practiced Western pleasure riding with Andy, thus why his pace and strides were more slow and collected.

Lucy turned as she saw Levy and Hank quickly nearing her peripheral vision. They were coming in close and fast, a small cloud of dust in their wake, which could be concerning for most riders if Lucy didn't already know that Andy wouldn't mind. Hank and Andy were both smart and as calm as horse's come, rarely did either of them get spooked or scared like so many other horses often did. Not only that, but they were basically buddies, due to their riders being best friends. They were used to riding side by side, with next to no room between them.

Finally Hank arrived right beside Andy. Levy applied some slight pressure on her reins with both hands and then set her body down in her seat to a halt all movement, before Hank could pass by them. Hank came down from his trot to a walk and Lucy quickly did the same, pulling her one hand that had both reins in it back, gently.

"Sorry bout that!" Levy breathed as she moved the reins into one hand so she could wipe her glistening brow. "Sure is hot out here." She uttered.

Both of them were wearing tank tops; Lucy's was light blue and Levy's black, but she would have chosen something lightly colored if she had known the sun was going to be as murderous as it was that day. Other than that Levy was wearing tight tan chaps and her leather black tall-boots that nearly reached her knees. This was what she normally chose to wear when riding, whereas Lucy usually preferred to wear her jeans and a fancy belt with some beat up cowboy boots. Levy kept her hair back in her usual bandana, while Lucy had hers down, with a pair of sunglasses over her head.

"Yea… But at least it's nice and not raining today." Lucy mentioned as her eyes graced the bright blue skies of afternoon.

"Yea…" Levy agreed with a lovely smile.

Both girls then took a moment to enjoy the surrounding sights, while both of their horse just walked carelessly side by side along the rails of the outdoor arena. It was a beautiful little clearing surround by grass covered pastures all fenced in to the north and some thick woods to the east, where there were trails for trail riding. To the south was the road further down and lastly to the west was the barn and home of the barn owner, just left of the outdoor arena. It was a good-sized facility as the indoor arena was rather large, and the property itself was enormous which was needed in order to have enough room for all of the horse pastures and trails. Finally after a minute Levy's gold eyes landed back over Lucy in wonder.

"What was it you were saying?" She asked.

"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed as had basically already forgotten. "The new horse is coming in today!"

"Oh really? Where'd you hear?" Levy asked.

"Bisca made mention this morning." Lucy replied.

"Wow… huh…" Levy replied in contemplation as she glanced down at Hank's withers below her head. "Guess we'll finally be getting a neighbor Hank… How bout that..?" She questioned him with a pat on the neck. He replied with a good yank on the reins as he stretched his head down, as if trying to pull them out of her hands. Levy's eyebrows came together in annoyance as she yanked them right back up. Hank was always trying to take make more slack than he needed whenever they took a break.

The stall that was next to Levy's had been empty for many months as the last horse who had been boarded there had been moved.

"Yea ya know I heard the horse is a reiner… Like a really good one. Alzack was all excited about it she kept saying." Lucy added, and Levy just shrugged.

"Really…? Wonder what the owner is like… Guess we'll see huh?" Levy spoke.

"Hopefully nice if you're gonna be stuck next to them…" Lucy chimed with a smile.

"I'm sure it will be fine…" Levy replied with a smile. "Although I suppose I ought to pick up my stuff when we're done riding…" Levy uttered with a finger to her chin. "My tack box is kind of a mess right now. Needs some organizing." Levy explained.

"Weren't you going to give Hank a bath too?" Lucy questioned as she glanced down at Hank's dust covered hair; he was a hard one to keep clean considering he was basically white.

"Yea…." Levy replied with another smile as she looked ahead. "We better get back to work, because I've got a long day ahead of me." Levy added.

"Well have at it, but I think me and Andy here are done for the day…" Lucy replied with a slap on her horse's neck.

"So lazy…" Levy laughed.

"Yea well… It's hot… And… Andy's tired, right buddy?" She questioned, as she glanced down at him. "I'm sure he's sweating good under this saddle so I'm gonna hose him off." Lucy added.

"All right, we'll catch ya later then…" Levy replied as she gently gathered up her reigns and quickly gave Hank a little nudge with her heel. "Come on Hank!" She cheered with a little bit of pressure on her one reign to wake him back up from the break. "Back to work!" She added with a click of her tongue and without another moment's hesitation the horse was trotting away, leaving a small cloud of dust behind him. Lucy watched them go as she brought Andy to a halt. She admired Hank's strides as Levy brought him into a nice collected trot.

Levy was pretty dedicated and it showed in her and Hank's partnership, they were more than definitely horse show ready. Which was good, because Levy was planning on trying out for some of the adult hunter classes in the upcoming State Fair that was taking place in August. Lucy on the other hand was still debating on whether she wanted to give it a shot herself. She enjoyed riding and she was taking lessons from Bisca once a week. But she didn't put nearly as much practice time as Levy who had seemed to of made the barn her second home.

It wasn't surprising; Levy had always been all about riding for as long as Lucy had known her. Nothing else seemed to take priority, not jobs, not boyfriends and now that they were done with school, not even that. Not that Levy had let these things fall to wayside or anything… Well maybe a little bit… As she hadn't actually dated anyone in quite some time…. Levy just had a way of making everything work around barn hours rather than vise versa. It was actually quite amazing really. The only other thing Levy was really that passionate about was reading and often times the subject matter she was reading up on consisted of horses and riding.

Lucy shook her head as she thought about this, before finally swinging her leg off of Andy and landing on the ground. She gathered up his reins as her horse just watched her with his gentle eyes. She took one last glance towards Levy and Hank as they moved into a canter, circling down on the other end of the arena, before heading towards the gate out with Andy in toe.

"Come on, lets cool you off."

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Levy and Hank were making their way back inside the barn, exhausted sweaty and dirty from all the dust, after a long ride together under the sun. Lucy was long gone at this point as Levy had taken her time, plus Lucy had mentioned having plans that evening so it wasn't surprising the girl didn't wait around. Hank and Levy were making their way down the stone aisles of the barn; some of the horses were nickering as they passed by, making Levy smile.

"Sorry I'm not the one passing out hay today!" Levy chimed with her eyes closing happily, before opening them and looking at the different horse faces that were staring at her between steel bars of their stalls.

The barn was kept in clean condition, due to how incredible Makarov's barn staff was. The stalls were cleaned everyday, along with the cobwebs being knocked down and the aisles being swept. The wooded boards were well polished, and quickly replaced should any of the horses kick holes or break any of them. The aisle was also well light, but Levy was still having trouble adjusting after just being out in the bright sun for so long. She looked around as she continued to guide Hank beside her on the right with the reins, confusion taking over.

"Speaking of hay… Wonder why they haven't fed yet… You guys should all be eating by now." She spoke out loud as Hank's shoed feet continued to clop over the cement. Levy glanced up towards the open door on the far end of the aisle, where she could hear distant sounds of commotion. "Maybe that other horse is here…" She wondered, but she didn't bother to check it out, as she was more concerned with getting Hank taken care of.

Slowly they finally approached her stall on the left, Hank stopped as Levy opened the door to her stall and led him inside. Then she grabbed his halter and immediately got to work taking off his saddle, along with the rest of his riding gear. Hank's saddle was much lighter to carry as the English tack was much smaller and less bulky compared to Lucy's Western saddle. But he was just as sweaty underneath it all, if not more so from all the hard work they had done in the bright sun. His normally white hair looked gray on his back, where he was soaking wet.

Once that was done Levy guided Hank out of his stall by a rope to the barn's wash rack stall. She made sure to grab some shampoo and conditioner as well as a bucket, still intent on giving him a much-needed bath. Surprisingly Hank didn't mind the bath, even with the water being mostly cold. In fact he was making funny faces, his lips twitching every time Levy scrubbed him with her wash brush. She found it hard not to laugh at him every time he did it, even though she should have been used to it by now.

Hank was often itchy; he seemed to have sensitive skin, probably, because he was a gray. So grooming had become pretty entertaining to watch as he made his silly faces, while enjoying being brushed. This was another reason why Levy had decided to give him a bath. Plus Hank often times could use one, he was white and a bit of pig, so he was near impossible to keep clean. He liked mud and swimming in ponds… His stall was messy… Keeping him clean was damn near impossible, but Levy had learned to accept that over the years. Plus it didn't matter so long as he still managed to look good for the shows at least.

Levy had been at the bath for a while and had just finished rinsing the conditioner out of Hank's tail with the hose, before she then sprayed him in the face with it. He of course threw his head up, but was pretty good about for the most part, he made some bubble with the water. Once done she turned the water off and hung up the hose and was about to begin squeegee-ing the excess water off of him when she realized she had forgotten to grab towels.

"Shoot…" She glanced up at Hank, her finger pointing at his nose. "Don't you move Hank…" Her eyebrows lowered as he looked back at her with innocent brown eyes. "You hear me…? Behave!" She snapped. "I'll be right back…" She replied as she backed out of the wash rack with her eye still on him.

Luckily he was tied in with crossties so he couldn't go anywhere, but that didn't mean he couldn't cause trouble. Levy quickly turned away and walked fast towards her stall, where she kept all of her stuff in a tack box just outside of it. Once she approached she couldn't help, but notice the once empty stall next to hers was suddenly occupied.

 _So you're finally here… That was what I heard then, a horse getting off a trailer..._

Levy looked up her eyebrows lowering, once she grabbed a few towels and tucked them under her one arm. She was about to walk away, but she hesitated. Her curiosity was getting the best of her. She couldn't resist a look.

 _Aw Hank can wait another minute…_ She thought as she imagined him occupying his time by chewing the crossties.

She slowly stepped up to the door of her neighboring stall and took a peek inside, between the bars.

"Oh wow…" She uttered as she got a look at an impressive looking dark bay horse.

In fact it was so dark it looked black, but Levy knew better. The mane and tail were very much the same color as the rest of its fur. There didn't appear to be any markings, other than a bit of white fur on its neck over the line of its mane in the shape of a strange 'V'. Strange, because one side of the letter was taller than the other and it was clearly left as a result from being branded.

"A 'V' huh?" Levy questioned as she glanced down in search for the horse's name. There over the door was a stall card with the horses information. "Hi off My Sweet Valentine…" Levy read the show name over the door. "Valentine!" She chimed with a smile after also reading that the horse was a mare. "So cute!" She exclaimed.

She glanced back up at the dark mare, who was eating her hay peacefully. She was once again taking her in. The mare wasn't overly tall, more stocky, but still beautiful none the less.

"You are very pretty Miss Valentine… I wonder if you are sweet, like your name says?" Levy questioned as she began to reach her fingers carefully between the bars with a soft click of her tongue to get the mares attention.

It seemed to have worked as the mare brought her head up to glance at Levy between the bars with a blink and Levy once again found herself fawning over the mare's cute face. She immediately stiffened though, once the horse reached her head forward. Levy waited, ready to quickly move her hand away should Valentine look like she was ready to bite, but the horse didn't try. Instead she just light pushed her nose up to Levy's fingers in mere curiosity. Levy paused with wide eyes as the horses nostril flared a bit under her touch. She felt a tinge of joy at the horse's gentleness.

"Well you're definitely sweeter than _my_ horse." Levy chimed with a large smile as her fingers gently swept over the soft skin of the horse's nose.

"Why are you touchin' my horse?" Came a gritty unfamiliar voice from right behind and it was so surprising that Levy actually jumped. Her hand immediately flew out from the bars in great alarm, as Valentine glanced up at the person who now standing behind her new visitor.

Levy spun around, her heart jumping into her throat as her back and head fell against the stall. She could feel Valentine's breathing, as the horse seemed to be sniffing at her neck between the bars. Levy didn't care though, because she was too taken aback in fear of the muscular man glaring down at her between red piercing eyes.

He was standing there with arms folded, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, with some kind of cowboy clothing line insignia over it and some worn out dusty jeans. He was very tall with a tan complexion. He had long black hair that flooded down like a spiky mass to his waist and a bandanna tied around his forehead to keep it up and out of his face. The most unusual thing about him though, was that his face was lined with studded piercings; he had them down his nose, on his chin and even in place of his eyebrows. And that wasn't the end of it, for as Levy looked over him she saw that he also had them down his forearms, along with a few scars wrapping around his right arm. He stood there before Levy, nearly twice her height, a true intimidating figure in a pair of giant work boots.

"I…Uh… I'm sorry…?" Levy uttered a breath, truly not knowing what else to say, she was so shocked. The man looked over her, his eyes going from her face down the length of her body, before moving back up quickly.

She was breathing heavy, the movement of her small chest noticeable beneath the fabric of her dark tank top. Her blue hair was a wild mess, probably from riding he gathered as he couldn't help, but notice the tight fitting chaps and tall boots. Her skin looked shiny, from either sweat or water, there was little bit of dirt clinging to her face. Her large almond eyes were rounded and shining with fear and her skin looked a little pale. He found it hard to think for a moment as he stared at her, not knowing what to say next. He wasn't happy to have caught her trying to pet Valentine, but he also couldn't bring himself to stay mean while looking at her face.

Luckily she finally spoke.

"I… Uh… I'm Levy… Hank's owner… Your stall neighbor." She replied glancing down and away from him in shame, her cheeks were reddening. "Sorry… Again… You're right that was rude of me…"

"Gajeel…" He stated in his voice rough.

"Uh… What?" Levy glanced up as Gajeel began to move close towards her. Levy jumped, her eyes widening again as he moved in on her. For a moment she had thought he was about to do something with her when she saw him instead reaching for the stall door. She quickly stepped aside in embarrassment, he seemed to not pay her any mind, nor care that she was in the way. Almost as if he would have just pushed her if need be.

"Yer lucky…" He answered as he opened Valentine's stall door. "Valentine doesn't take to everyone so easily." He added as he stepped before the horse.

 _Oh Gajeel…_ Levy thought as she got a look at the stall card once more and read the horse owners name… _Gajeel Redfox_. Levy smiled with realization as she looked at the large man patting his horse on the neck.

"Oh well… She's very beautiful…" Levy replied gently as Gajeel went about taking a walk around Valentine. The horse just went back to eating her hay without any mind.

"Didja say yer Hank's owner?" Gajeel asked.

"Uh… Yea… The empty stall next to yours…" Levy replied and at this Gajeel glanced up.

"Hank wouldn't happen to be the big gray sittin' there in the wash rack would he?" Gajeel asked as Levy matched eyes with him. Levy smiled brightly.

"Oh yea… That's him!" She exclaimed.

"Yer tellin' me a little girl like you is ridin' a giant like him?" Gajeel questioned with quirk of his studded eyebrow. Levy paused, she couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "Tell me how do ya get on that big ol horse shrimp?" He then added next as a slight smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. Levy could feel her cheeks reddening, was this stranger teasing her? Or should she be insulted? She didn't know how to take him, plus he had called her a name, shrimp?

"I… I do just fine thank you very much." She suddenly snapped, but all this did was make Gajeel laugh, a really strange laugh at that.

"Gi hi! Ya know yer horse is chewin' the wall right now right?" He asked and at that Levy's mouth fell open.

"Aw darn it!" She snapped, finally turning away in a hurry "Hank!" She was yelling as she took off down the aisle towards where she had left her troublesome horse. Gajeel leaned out of the doorway of his open stall, just to watch her go, his eyes landing over the perfect shape of her back end in the tight chaps. That was until he felt a nudge on his arm. He glanced down at Valentine with a grin.

"Whatcha think?" He asked her with another pat. "We gonna like it here er what?" He added as he looked back to Levy just as she rounded the corner.

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 **That's all I decided to do for chapter 1. Let me know what ya think if ya don't mind. I'll try not to make the story overly complicated with horse terms, but there are some that are a bit hard to avoid so down below is a few incase ya need some help!**

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 **Time for- Lets Learn Some Horse Terms!**

 **Hunter- It's a type of riding style that uses the English saddle and is often tied with jumping fences**

 **Gelding- A male horse that is not a stallion**

 **Withers- Base of the horses neck, where the back starts**

 **Halter- Thing horse wears over face that doesn't have a bit, so it is not a bridle**

 **Crossties –Two ropes that hang on either side of the wall with clips to keep a horse in place without having to be held with a rope.**

 **Nickering- sound a horse makes, softer then a neigh**

 **Reining or reiner- another type of riding style that uses the Western saddle, often involves horses moving fast, doing cool things like sliding stops and spinning**

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 **If there is any other questions or if people want me to explain something a bit more feel free to let me know, review or PM... again I'll try to be careful with my terms and to explain the things that I need to use a lot.**

 **Thanks for Reading!**


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